Physical Hazards, Reaction Hazards, and Environmental Hazards

When dealing with any number of materials particularly in an industrial or occupational setting, knowing the properties of these materials is very important to ensure the safety of people and to prevent potential disaster.  The physical hazards of materials include things like engulfment, over-pressurization, thermal hazards, and more.  Engulfment is when an individual becomes completely “engulfed” by a material.  This means the material at hand can be a solid, liquid, or gas.  In the case of a solid, and individual could fall into a grain silo or be cover by dirt at a contraction site.  In the case of a liquid, an individual could fall into a brew tank, or an oil holding tank.  In the case of a gas a toxic gas could surround an individual.  Also pertaining to gas engulfment, this gas could than cause oxygen depletion by pushing away all the oxygen and suffocating the individual.  Over-pressurization is another physical hazard.  This is when the pressure of a material is too high for the container holding it.  This can happen when a material is confined and the ambient temperature rises.  With materials in the gas form, they generally follow the ideal gas law.  Meaning if their temperature doubles, so does their volume.  In the case of liquefied gases this is not so.  When a gas in liquid form is heated, the gas expands exponentially to around 400-600 percent its original volume.  This can pose a very serious danger.

  Thermal hazards are also very important.  Cryogenic materials and other super cooled materials like liquid nitrogen are cold enough to freeze flesh instantly.  This can be very dangerous because it can kill tissue very quickly.  On the opposite side of the coin, materials can also be extremely hot.  Many chemical reactions produce a substantial amount of heat that can burn and kill flesh very quickly as well.  Some materials reduce friction intentionally but when spilled, can pose a danger.  Slips, trips, and falls are very common workplace injuries.  Very fine powders like graphite or slick oils can make a walking surface very slippery and dangerous to workers.   Material reactions can be very dangerous as well.  Materials can react to form dangerous gases, fires, explosions, and more.  It is very important to know if a chemical is compatible with the container you are putting it in, or other chemicals that may be stored with it.   Environmental hazards are something to be considered, especially when discharging materials.  A chemical that may appear harmless, or is harmless to a human may in fact be very dangerous to the ecosystem, or a specific organism in that eco system.  These materials can also accumulate in an organism’s body over time, this is called bioaccumulation.  Many materials have warning properties that will let you know if they are present.  One example of this is natural gas.  When natural gas is leaked, an individual can usually smell it and knows it is present.  Warning properties include a materials visibility, odor, irritation of senses, dizziness, and taste.  However some chemicals may be very hazardous and have no warning properties.  A good example of this is carbon monoxide. 

A materials genealogy is also crucial to be knowledgeable of.  This means, were the material was processed/purified, and how its properties change over time.  A material can “go bad” just like food can.  It is crucial to know the hazardous properties of any material when dealing with them.  Failure to do so can result in injury or even death for an individual.

Chemical Properties and States of Matter

As emergency responders, knowing the physical states of matter and their physical properties benefits us tremendously.  Whether an process uses a few chemicals, or a few thousand chemicals, being educated on them is always beneficial.   As most of us know, chemicals can be in either solid, liquid, or gas form.  These are referred to as the sate of matter.  The state of matter can change the properties of that particular substance.  For example, when water is in liquid form, it will form to the shape of its container.  When water is in its solid form, or ice, it is hard and will not fit to the shape of its container until it melts again. 

Chemicals may be toxic, but while in liquid form in a container and not in anyway in contact with your body they can be safe.  But, that chemical may be extremely harmful to your body if it evaporates into a gas and you breathe it in.  That chemical may have a boiling point at or below room temperature, which means it will evaporate by itself.  In this situation the chemical can be in the air and you would not even be aware.  Flashpoint is another chemical property you need to be aware of when dealing with various chemicals.  The flash point of a chemical is the lowest temperature where enough fluid can evaporate to form a combustible concentration of gas.  This can be very dangerous in an occupational setting, especially in closed structures like a building.  There are many chemicals that may reach a combustible level in the air and not be detectable prior.  One very dangerous gas that can do this is Oxygen.   Natural Gas is another commonly encountered gas that can cause unplanned combustion.  The gas company puts a scent in natural gas so a homeowner or employee can detect its presence when leaked and take immediate action. 

Mixtures can be very dangerous in an industrial or laboratory setting, but also in your own home.  For example bleach and ammonia are two common household chemicals.  When mixed together, they two chemicals form toxic chloramine vapor.  It is scenarios like this one that can result if we are not aware of the properties of the chemicals we are using.  As an emergency responder, we can benefit from the knowledge of chemical properties in the event of a fire.  There are different types of fire extinguishers, all of which serve their own purpose.  For example, if you have an electrical fire, you will probably want to use a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher.  But lets say you grab a foam fire extinguisher and spray it at the flame, well you may not have the best of luck.  Or lets say you have a grease/cooking oil fire, you should grab a wet chemical fire extinguisher.   If you mistakenly grab a water fire extinguisher, you may just be spreading the fire around.  It is very important to know the properties of a chemical when dealing with different types of waste in an industrial/occupational setting as well.  You may be storing this waste in containers for a certain period of time.  This waste may in fact be acidic or corrosive.  So in this scenario you will have to make sure you have the proper container to store this chemical in, for however long you need to store it for.  For all these reasons, we can see why it is so crucial to have an understanding of chemical properties and states of matter.

Ethics

Ethics often plays a crucial role in the business world.  In this case we are talking about DuPont and the C8 issues in Parkersburg.  There are six types of ethics we talked about in class that pertain to this issue.  These include personal, community, professional, corporate, federal, and state ethics.  Ethics are defined as how a person, group, or organization makes moral judgments concerning what’s right and what’s wrong.   In this article we are going to talk specifically about professional ethics concerning the DuPont case.  DuPont is one of the worlds biggest chemical company’s; it was founded as a black powder manufacturer in 1802.  DuPont has a large factory is Parkersburg West Virginia.

The town of Parkersburg heavily depends on this factory to employee its citizens.  It is almost certain that everyone who lives in Parkersburg either works at DuPont, or knows multiple other people who do.  Because of the service that DuPont provides the town, many of the people who live there are very loyal to the company.  So when farmer Wilbur Tennant brought to attention that his cows were dying left and right, and blamed DuPont for it, the town turned against him.  DuPont had been releasing a chemical into a stream that ran threw Wilbur Tennant’s farm.  This chemical is referred to as C8 and is used in manufacturing of Teflon.  

The chemical was actually developed by 3M, and they were sure to warn DuPont of its dangers to human health.   Regardless of the well-known health effects on humans and animals, the C8 contamination was largely ignored.  While all 6 types of ethics listed earlier pertain to this case, we are going to focus on professional ethics.   The Tennant’s wanted veterinarians to look at their sick and dying cattle. 

Long story short, the veterinarians found poor husbandry to be the cause of death.  In other words, they were telling this family of life long cattlemen, they didn’t know how to take care of their cows.  The vets knew there was something wrong with the cows, and they also knew DuPont was to blame.  These people exhibited very poor professional ethics, oppose to doing the write thing they lied and kept the real cause of sickness undisclosed.  The Tennants had to find a veterinarian far away from Parkersburg to actually get the proof they were after.  But its not just cows that were treated this way; people were denied medical attention as well.  When a person would go to the nearby hospital claiming medical complications due to C8, not only would the medical staff not examine them, they wouldn’t even talk to them.  Again, this is a perfect example of an absolute abomination of professional ethics.   Out of all the industries, the medical industry should be the one that withholds the highest ethical standards.  However, pressure from DuPont pushed professionals to constantly wrong the Tennants, and people of Parkersburg suffering from medical issues.  Many professionals actually work under an ethical code, and breaking this code is actually the same as breaking the law.  DuPont employees also demonstrated very poor professional ethics.  They knew the chemical to be dangerous.  So why was it openly disposed into our waterways?  Why were employees being exposed to it even though it was causing their children to have birth defects?  All these professionals demonstrated very poor professional ethics.